Breathe

One of my daughters and her family has been visiting for the week and we have had a marvelous time. Today, they off visiting with another family member before heading home tomorrow. It’s been wonderful having them here. Their presence created a flow of gatherings and talking and grandkids and talking and cooking good things to eat and talking. I am sad to see it all end.

This kind of coming together is the life breath of a family. It rejuvenates, invigorating the connections between its members. And the kids. . .they brought back memories of the past when I was one of the cousins, trying to make the most of every moment before the playing ended and everyone went back to their far away homes. So precious to watch.

As we stood last night waving family members off as they departed after a wonderful evening of visiting, it was said, “This sure was nice. Why don’t we do this more often?” Yes, why not? Busyness and its exchange of the blissful for the rush, rush, rush gets in the way. Maybe that is why we appreciate the moments of togetherness more, because they are different from the rest of life’s activities.

So with that said, I am back to the routine, waiting for the next opportunity for a get-together to happen so I can catch my breath.

“Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!” -Albert Einstein

Several family members have food allergies so I tried some new gluten-free recipes. While experimenting, I came across 1 to 1 Baking Four from Bob’s Red Mill. It can be used in place of wheat flour without any other changes. I have tried it in several of my go-to recipes and it has worked beautifully.

One thing we made were some goldfish crackers. I used this recipe from the Huppie Mama. They turned out great and passed the grandkids’ High Standards Test. We cut ours out with a flower shape. We tried others, but anything with a sharp point didn’t work for us. I imagine regular flour will work just the same as the specialty flour.

Gluten Free Goldfish Crackers

1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour

8 oz. of your favorite cheese, shredded (We used cheddar.)

4 T cold butter

1 tsp. salt

2 T cold water

Check the link for great pictures of the process.

Begin by combining flour, cheese, cold butter, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until a sand-like texture has been created. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until your dough forms.

Refrigerate your dough for about a half hour. At that time, remove half the dough from the refrigerator and allow the other half to continue to chill (grab it when you need it). Roll your dough until you reach the desired thickness, about 1/3″ thick. I recommend flouring your surface first so they don’t stick. The kids loved helping with this part!

At this time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Using cutter, cut crackers out of the dough. Depending on the size of your cutter, you will probably get between 4 – 6 dozen crackers. Lay them on a parchment or silicone lined cookie sheet.

Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes, depending upon the thickness of your dough and how browned you want them to be along the edges. You will have to work in batches to bake all of them.

Enjoy!

If you like what you see here, head on over to another blog I write—Girl on Adventure. Hope to see you over there. The journey is always better when shared with friends.

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Patty Schell will tell you she’s been writing since she could spell and string words together, but it hasn’t been until recent years she has been able to make it a regular practice. Her role as women’s leader in her local church provided a platform to teach, blog, and now, write. Her latest project, Living NOW series is one that was born from a desire to encourage the women she was teaching to know God through His Word, giving them a practical way to study the Bible for themselves.
At present, Patty is a contributor to a variety of web-based publications including Refresh Magazine, Broken but Priceless Magazine, Life Letter Café, and SoCal Voice. In addition, she connects with her readers with regular posts on her two blogs, Girl on Adventure: Embracing the Journey Called Life and The Party’s in the Kitchen: Cooking Up Good Times in the Heart of the Home. Much of Patty’s writing is inspired by the full life she leads alongside her family and friends. She constantly looks for good reasons to gather people together, loves serving her community, and enjoys getting to know new places and cultures. Through these activities and others in life, God reveals His stories of faith, hope and love, and Patty means to tell others about them every chance she gets.
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Hospitality is key in making the world a better place. Let’s face it. Who doesn’t love a gathering that includes good food shared with family and friends. Memories are created and friendships increased when we come together. So, drop on in and stay awhile. Wait 'til you see what's cookin'. ~Patty Schell

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